TAG Oil Blog

Here are some shots of our capable contractors dropping the bar to perforate the Cheal-E-JV-6 well, as we initiated production testing.

The Cheal-E6 step-out well was successfully drilled to 1,939 meters (6,360 feet), and it fulfilled its main objective: to intersect oil- and gas-bearing sands in the Mt. Messenger Formation. It’s interpreted to have intersected more than nine meters (29.5 feet) of net oil- and gas-bearing sands, and the well is being completed as a potential oil well with production testing underway.

Results will be known after we have a few weeks of production testing under our belts. Now it’s on to TAG’s Cheal-E7 well!

As announced last week, shallow development drilling and production in the Taranaki are averaging about 1,959 barrels of oil equivalent (“boe”) per day, 80% of which is oil. So we're on track with the estimates CEO Garth Johnson and COO Drew Cadenhead gave in TAG Oil's last quarterly call. With continued success via the drill bit, the Company expects to meet its May 2014 forecast of an average daily production rate of 2,000 boe per day and cash flow generated from operations of $40 million for FY 2015.

Almost all of the current production comes from TAG Oil’s lightly explored Cheal and Greater Cheal oil and gas fields. When we include our Sidewinder field, we have another 50 shallow, drill-ready prospects identified, and we expect more to come as work continues over the years ahead.

After a drop in gas production in Q3/Q4 2014, daily production rates for the last three quarters have stabilized, with high-net-back oil steadily growing to 78% of the daily production. Growing oil production generates stronger revenues, as seen in Q4/14 and Q1/15: increased oil production has resulted in netbacks increasing from $49 per BOE in Q1/14 to more than $70 per BOE in Q1/15.